"Good Eats, Bad Neighborhood"

Jackson Triangle is at the heart of Hayward. It is pretty typical in appearance: older Ranch style homes mixed in with boxy apartments for the most part. Rents and homes are fairly inexpensive here. You can find a two bedroom house for around $1250/month, which is pretty good for the Bay Area. The median home price at sale is around $275K here with the ceiling for home prices being around $400K. (Less than 10% break this barrier.)

There are some newer homes in the middle of the neighborhood as well (those on the expensive end).

Jackson Triangle is not however, imo, a very mixed bag as a neighborhood.

Crime is, first of all, an issue here. In the last 6 months, for example, there have been 2 murders within the borders of the neighborhood. There have also been some 2 or 3 dozen assaults in Jackson Triangle during this same period.

Schools here are pretty bad as well. The local elementaries rank at or near the bottom of the barrel in terms of objective assessments (such as test scores).

One of the big draws of this spot, however, is the commute. This is one of the very few places in the Bay Area where you can make it to San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley and Pleasanton all within an hour or less drive. You can’t beat that in terms of flexibility--which makes it the perfect location for freelancers and consultants who are taken all over the Bay.

Another good thing about this spot is the selection of restaurants along Harder and Jackson at the borders. You will find a wide selection of Latin American and Asian food (from Chinese to Pakistani food).

Overall, I guess I would say that this is a better neighborhood to grab to something to eat than to live in.